Small, bulk-handled metal parts have traditionally received surface treatments such as washing, phosphating, chromating and the like in submersed plating barrel equipment, in auger-feed drum machines, reversing-auger batch drum machines, or by use of individual devices for accomplishing each stage in a treatment process. An example is the film-forming operation on needle bearings, where the bearings, after appropriate radiusing and smoothing in oblique tumbling barrels are then cleaned in the barrel with an alkaline cleaner, rinsed, drained, tumbled in a film-forming solution, drained and removed to a heated cobmeal drying apparatus (often in another oblique barrel) where the bearings are dried. All of these stages can be done in one oblique barrel, but require several extra washings and rinses because of the soil build-up in the radiusing stage. Whether performed in one or several barrels, the process involves much hand labor for adding the various chemicals or cobmeal, the several rinses, and loading and unloading the bearings from the various barrels. Another example is phosphating small steel parts prior to painting. A horizontal cylinder, having an auger built inside, is fed parts at one end as it slowly turns on rollers. The parts are pushed by the auger toward the discharge end of the cylinder, while chemical solutions are flushed over them and out of the cylinder through perforations in the cylinder wall. As the parts move through different sections of the cylinder, they are sprayed with different solutions, such as cleaner solution, water rinse, phosphating solution, water rinse and sealer solution.
Campanelli Patent No. 4 002 488 illustrates one vibratory apparatus for purely chemical surface treatment, in this case washing of nails. The system involves several machines and only one chemical stage, that is, the wash stage. Further, this system is extremely large and is unsuitable for use in many applications.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a device for surface treating of metal parts, which device is cylindrical in its overall construction and occupies a minimum of floor space.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a device for surface treating of metal parts, as aforesaid, wherein structure is provided for allowing the metal parts to remain within a basin, adapted to hold a treatment solution therein, for selected and variable time intervals before being advanced out of the basin through at least one subsequent treatment station.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a device for treating of metal parts, as aforesaid, which is of a durable construction and easy to maintain and service, should service be required.